What's New?

2003/27/02

It seems going away from the computer for a few days sometimes really helps.
While I was on a business trip, I finally thought of why steering in the same
direction in which the car is sliding makes it move very
unrealistically, especially at higher speeds. It turned out, that a
pretty simple change in the code makes it behave exactly as I wanted
it to. The fixed version can be obtained from the CVS.

I'll release version 0.1.3 as soon as I find some time to make the car
bounce off the walls upon collision, instead of just coming to a halt.
I hope to be able to do it in the next 2-3 weeks.

Finally, thanks to all who commented on T1 so far! Your (mostly
positive :-) ) feedback helped me a lot in deciding which direction
T1 development is going to take.

2003/23/02

Development is going on. Following is already available in the CVS
version:

Compatibility with Vamos
is now re-established. If you want to give it a try, you'll need Vamos in
version 0.3.0. Watch out not to hit any walls, collision handling is
not yet implemented in Vamos model. Oh, and don't forget to give --with-vamos
to ./configure!

Speed and revs are now presented in pretty gauges. There is a screenshot in the
gallery.

2003/14/02

Announcement on Linux Game Tome (see previous news entry) was a great success!
Right now, I'm working on solving problems found by some of the people who
downloaded T1. Except for a weird collision detection problem found on one computer,
the most seem to be related to compilation.

Unfortunately, it seems that T1 and Vamos got out-of-sync again. At the moment,
it is not possible to compile Vamos support into T1. I'm working with Sam on that
one. Until the problem is solved, I made a quick-fix release 0.1.2a, which
only includes Vamos support if the user explicitely asks for it (configure flag
"--with-vamos").

Release 0.1.2a also includes (for the first time) a statically linked binary. I
still recommend everybody to try to compile the source version. However, if it
doesn't work for you, you can also give it a try with the pre-compiled one. Don't
forget to send me a mail with a description of your compilation problems, though
- otherwise I won't be able to resolve them in the next release.

2003/09/02

Version 0.1.2 is out, be the first to get it! :-)

Seriously, I have finally found some time to get a new release out.
Following has changed since 0.1.1:

First step toward integration with
Vamos. If you
have Vamos installed on your system, ./configure shall detect
it and activate the support (see the new command line option -v).

Wow, it's been a long time since the last update! We haven't
stopped working on T1, we've just had a creative pause. In other
words, our lives got in the way... :-)

Anyway, stay tuned for a new version real soon now. I
know, I said that a few months ago already, but this time.. ummm...
you know, it's for real ;-) Most probably this weekend, or at
latest the next one.

The most changes are internal,
but there are also some nice improvements on physics and collision
detection. Also, this will be the first release also to include
an interface to Vamos,
a very nice car driving simulation developed by Sam Varner. So,
watch out for any updates of this page! Oh, and as soon as somebody
actually subscribes on t1-src-announce, I'll start using it. :-)

2002/29/09

Integration of Vamos physics model and T1 is going on
much better than what I hoped for. There's still a lot work
be done, but I don't think there are any show-stoppers waiting
to be discovered. Pretty soon we'll have some results to share
with you!

2002/21/09

I have some great and exciting news to announce: Sam Varner (Author of
Vamos, see also previous
news entry) and myself are
working on including the Vamos physics into T1 framework!
Actually, the most of the work is done by Sam, I'm just standing around
and fixing/extending T1 according to his needs :-). Vamos shall remain
available as a stand-alone project, of course, and the development
of the current T1 model shall also continue. Stay tuned for further
details!

Other than that, Mario is working on at least two new cars. The
results I saw a few days ago look great. I'll post some screenshots
in the next few days.

2002/29/07

In case you've been wondering: no, I haven't lost interest in this project.
Unfortunately, my day job consumes every minute of my time lately, so I
had to slow down a bit with T1. In a few days, I'll go on a vacation
(the first real one in the past 9-10 years). I'll be away some 3-4 weeks. When
I'm back, expect a new version real soon.

In the mean time, I suggest you give
Vamos a try. The game is in the
similar state of development as T1, except that at this time it lays
much more value on accurate physics than on fancy graphics. Nevertheless,
it's already fun to play! Just watch out not to push the pedal too far, the car
has a HELL of an engine that will instantly send your heck floating around. :-)

Who knows, maybe pairing Vamos and T1 would be a
good idea... :-)

2002/12/06

Version 0.1.1 released! It's not really time for a new release,
but given that I'll be on a business trip for the next 1.5 weeks, I
decided to do it anyway. The difference between screenshots in the
gallery and the actual release was getting uncomfortably large...

Anyway, what's new since the last update? Most notably I have started
improving the car model towards simulation of sliding in corners. It's
still just a first prototype, but nevertheless it already feels quite good!

Go on, give it a try! :-)

2002/08/06

One more week went by without Web-Site update. In the mean time, I did some
clean-up, and implemented a simple shadow for the car (looks good!). Besides
that, we (Mario and myself) improved the first portion of the track. You can
check the results in the gallery.

2002/29/05

I haven't had much time to work on T1-CRS lately (I *do* have a day
job, you know... :-) ). Nevertheless, the game is progressing well. The
most noticeable news are:

Mario has built the first larger 3DS object. It's a nice looking
tunnel. You can see it in the gallery.

2002/21/05

I haven't updated this section for a week now.
However, it doesn't mean I was sleeping (I almost
never do :-) ). Here's the list of the most
important improvements/new features added this past
week:

Toyota Supra is released and set as a default
car. It's a beauty! If you want to go back to
Golf GTI, change the last parameter in
the call to NormalCar constructor in file
src/t1_crs.cc.

Car model has improved considerably. It's still not ready
for prime time, but it already allows for a nice game-play.

2002/14/05

Preliminary solution for collision detection with track walls implemented. If you want to
give it a try, you can get it from CVS (or wait until the next release, of course).

Some first great looking snapshots of Toyota Supra added to the gallery.

2002/11/05

Version 0.1.0 released! If you want to compile it, you'll also need
Steve Bakers' PLIB library.
If configure can't figure out where you installed it, there
are two new options you can use: --with-plib-includes and
--with-plib-libs

Important new keys are Q (gear up) and A (gear down).

If you give it a try (it starts being worth it!), remember that I'm a sucker for feedback... :-)

I have added some preliminary sound support using Steve Bakers'
PLIB library. Having a sound
adds a whole new dimension to the game! It wasn't quite planned for
this release, but I couldn't resist. :-)

Speaking of release, please bear with me for one additional
week. After I have spent some time thinking about spinning wheels and
correct implementation of breaks, I started seeing "the big picture".
It's not really possible to implement just a bit of tire
physics. Either you go all the way, or you better leave it. I decided
to go all the way. In the mean time, you can always check the CVS
to get the current version.

Mario showed me some first snapshots of a new car he's working on.
It's a beautifully looking Toyota Supra.

2002/03/05

I have managed to implement quite a few improvements since the last
web-site update. Most notable improvement considers a pretty good
engine model including configurable gear box and RPM/torque relationship.
Some external factors (air drag and roll resistance) are also in place.
The old track is replaced by a new, much bigger and more interesting one.
A bug in track definition loader is fixed, now track width changes gradually
according to specification (except if you configure an abrupt change, of
course).

What's still missing before I can make the next release is a model for breaks
(right now the car stops instantly if you hit the breaks) and maybe a simple
wheel spinning model (current model assumes perfect tires which never
slip). I hope to find some time for that in the next few days.

On the artistic side, Mario did some nice new 3DS objects (most notably
a very good looking gas station), and has also improved the Golf GTI model.
He has also started working on a new car, first screenshots pending for
tomorrow.

For the case you go and get the current version from the CVS (does anybody
actually do that?): gear up is mapped to Q, gear down to A.

2002/27/04

Roll & pitch movements (rotations around Z respective X axis) are now implemented.
It was much easier than I thought it would be. I'm tempted to make a new release
right now, but I'll restrain myself to just bragging about it :-). Expect a
new release in 1-2 weeks. If you can't wait, you can always get the current
version from CVS.

2002/25/04

Work is going on quite well. Yesterday I converted the car drawing function
such that it now uses display lists instead of just throwing a bunch of triangles
one by one at the GL engine. Performance improvement was impressive: between 5 and 16
percent, while adding only a few lines of code. Lesson I learned while converting
to display list mechanism: don't create the list using GL_COMPILE_AND_EXECUTE! Stick
with GL_COMPILE, otherwise your display list could even lower the performance!

2002/21/04

Version 0.0.5 released! The game starts looking as a real game! :-) We decided to change status to pre-alpha. Don't expect it to be actually playable yet, though. The most obvious change is that now you get to actually see a car running in front of the camera. Steering (heading changes) works quite well. Roll and pitch changes, both functions of track layout, are still not implemented (watch out for the next release). Maximal steering angle is set to 14.3 degrees. Try it out, it's worth it!

t1-src-announce mailing list has been created. Check this link for details about subscription.

It seems a week ago I forgot to upload the news section for 2001/15/04, so I'm doing it now.

2002/15/04

A Golf GTI was added to the gallery. Other than that, the work is going on quite smoothly. I expect to be able to release 0.0.5 in a few days.

2002/13/04

Now we also have a light source! Surface normals are calculated for each vertex and
for each 3DS object in the scene. At the time being, lights are only turned on for
the car model. You can check some new snapshots in the gallery.

2002/11/04

Mario has provided some nice renderings for the web site and a logo for T1-CRS.
The Golf GTI model, which can be seen on the main page,
shall be published with the next release.

2002/07/04

I have finally begun working on a real car model. A new class
NormalCar is implemented, derived from class Vehicle
and implementing the interface Car. This step could take some
time. Nevertheless, I expect to be able to make a new release in 2-3
weeks, with at least some basic functionality (a car gets drawn
correctly, wheels attached at correct positions, pointing in
direction of the steering wheel). Check out the new option -n,
if you want to see how far I got with it (only available in the
CVS version, for the time being)

Mario has the next car model (a Golf GTI) almost done. Looks
great! I'll release it as soon as I get his OK.

2002/05/04

Version 0.0.4 released. No major changes, just making it compilable
with gcc 2.96. It seems that 2.96 has a very restrictive set of
default options, including -fno-builtin. Also added libm
to the set of standard libraries.